William Hill’s Asher Backs Employees, Donates Entire Salary

The latest example of goodwill comes from William Hill’s boss, Joe Asher, who has donated his salary to help the company’s employees at a time of uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.

William Hill Foundation Created to Support the Company’s Employees

William Hill US CEO Joe Asher has started an employee fund to help more than 600 employees who have been forced to take an unpaid leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this week, Asher announced the creation of the William Hill Foundation which purpose will be to help support all of the employees in the United States who suffered from the consequences of the outbreak. The first money deposited in the fund is Asher’s entire salary for this year.

About 255 employees of William Hill are still working, according to Asher. His hefty donation came with encouragement to his colleagues that are still working to help and donate as much as they can. In his own words “I didn’t feel right about continuing to get paid while so many people were out of work“, said Asher on Tuesday for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The COVID-19 Outbreak Hits the Gambling Industry

The COVID-19 outbreak has already hurt plenty of businesses across the U.S. and the world. The gambling industry wasn’t spared as well. There are 114 sportsbook locations that belong to William Hill in Nevada alone. Only a week ago, all those locations were ordered to close by Gov. Steve Sisolak for 30 days as in the state, casinos are considered non-essential businesses. This unfortunate situation forces many companies to let their workers on temporary breaks or even shut down completely.

Closing for business was the last thing that William Hill US wanted to do. However, the company has complied with the state’s demands and has sent many employees home. The furloughed employees have already received instructions on how to sign up for help from the newly formed foundation. In addition to this, William Hill is still covering the health care for those employees. Considering that sports are often qualified as stress relief for society, Asher remains worried as to how this will affect the community throughout the state.

Asher’s Donation and Hopes

When asked how big the salary he was donating to start the fund was, Asher preferred not to disclose the exact number but rather replied with “…I’m a reasonably well-paid individual and I said at the outset that I’d pay my salary until sports come back“. This however is not the only example of an executive donating his salary. Prior to Asher’s donation, Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox agreed to exchange his full year salary for company stock. He motivated his with aiding unemployed members of the company.

For the moment, William Hill is still operating online in states where no orders are issued for the shutdown of online gambling companies. Asher hopes that sports will come back for the sake of the nation and he said he had been told that setting up the foundation has been “heartwarming.”